Once More with Feeling
by love'sunny'side'up
Summary: There was a certain part in history that nobody knows. A history about Demons and Earls, Priests and Innocence and the Arc of Noah. There was a war that killed thousands without anyone the wiser. Things like these were best left forgotten. 100 years later, one Japanese boy started dreaming. Slash
1. Chapter 1

**1****st**** Chapter**

Yuu Kanda was walking past an antique shop when it first happened.

He was mulling over that afternoons meeting with his physics-project partner, Bookworm or whatever, when he caught a glimpse of the doll. It was very unremarkable, as all dolls were in his opinion, but then he saw that weird eye-patch/bandage design with the antenna looking headband and something _clicked_.

He didn't know what it was, even hours after the incident but it kept bugging him until the late hours of the night. The next day, he avoided walking that way again.

**(1)**

"So, I think we can make this cool mini nuclear bomb, but obviously it's not a _real_ mini nuclear bomb. We'll just have to show the effect of the bomb…somehow…without killing anyone in the process and I think it's going to be totally awesome and now you're not even listening to me, are you, Yuu?"

Kanda's right hand twitched, the only indication that he was seconds away from committing something that would send him to jail, probably with the stupid rabbit ending up dead, too, but said rabbit was being an oblivious dork as usual. Without waiting for an answer from Kanda, he proceeded to list down the merits of using cats as a test subject for their project "keeping in mind, of course, that cats are adorable little buggers and we'll probably be prosecuted if we continue with this plan" and whatever else. Kanda kept his gaze outside, keeping his mind as blank as he could.

He'd been doing this a lot lately. For some reason his nights had been filled with vague dreams about…_things._ Weird things and weird events. It was driving him mad, if he were to be honest. There seemed to be no end to this. In fact, day after day, the dreams were turning more realistic, if it were possible, and also longer and more nightmarish. Just the other night he ended up not sleeping at all after waking up to a nightmare wherein he had been mauled almost to death by a clown/monster hybrid.

Meditation was really hard to do these days, especially with the schedule he had.

Today was supposed to be a good time to do so, but then this idiot here called for an 'emergency meeting' which ruined Kanda's plans.

"Hey guys. What are up to?"

"Hey yourself, beautiful." Kanda's eyes almost rolled out of its socket, so much was his utter disbelief that the rabbit thought himself smooth with that line. Lenalee just laughed.

"Seriously, what's up?" she invited herself into their table, pushing Kanda's bag out of the way, of all things, but said Japanese was too in love with his life to say anything offending. One can never be too careful when it came to this woman and her homicidal brother. "I see Kanda's being pouty again, no surprise there," she smiled when he shot her a look that could kill, "and you're being your genius self again." She patted the rabbit's head and the stupid ass wagged his bottom like a dog, which was a very contradictory way of describing this situation but who cares anyway.

"We're making the invention of the year, my dear Chinese friend," the rabbit-sometimes-dog exclaimed, attracting the attention of the whole world which was so not cool so Kanda decided it was okay to kick him in the shin. "Fuck that hurt!"

Kanda's expression was Not ImpressedTM. The rabbit thought it was his turn to roll his eyes-eye, really, the other one had been hidden under an eye patch since forever-at Kanda. "I'm totally saying it now, Yuu, if I win an Oscar out of this, I won't be mentioning you in my speech."

"Good." Kanda scoffed. "Cause I would never want to be associated to you in any way."

"Oh shit, that totally cut me, Yuu, I'm bleedin' here."

"Then do me a favor and die."

The rabbit blinked. "Wow, you're really pissed, aren't you?"

"You mean he isn't always _really pissed_?" the girl to his right quipped.

"Whoa, lady, this is no time to joke 'cause he's seriously going to maim you or something. Just look at that face!"

His face, when Kanda turned to check in the glass wall, was looking homicidal it almost made him cringed. In his defense, though, he'd been out of sleep since the other day and it was not doing good things to his hair, thank you very fucking much.

…and his mood, too.

"Whazza matter, my friend? Your right hand giving you troubles at night or something?"

"Fuck you." He replied. He was ambidextrous.

Kanda blinked when he caught something unusual outside.

"Maybe you should just leave him alone, Lavi." Lenalle said like he wasn't five inches away from her. "I mean, let him cool down on his own. Plus I think your presence here makes him _more_ pissed, no offense."

"Wow, will it not offend you if I take the fucking offense? No offense of course. Besides, Yuu being this pissed only ever happened once. Do you want me to tell you about it? Well, it goes like this. You see there was a duck-."

Whatever it was the rabbit was going to say next died out when Kanda suddenly stood up, made a jump over Lenalee that would make that cow cry in envy and dashed out of the coffee shop. He pushed everyone out of the way, maybe sending an old lady flying but he wasn't really paying attention. He was trying to make it to the other side of the street and he wasn't really going to make it if that fucking light turned red now wouldn't he? He pushed a mother out of the way, not really caring if it died or not. He just had to make it across the street because-

A car honked loudly, almost running him over when Kanda made a step to cross. More vehicles followed and to Kanda's frustration, it blocked his view of the other side. A minute later and he was barreling his way through the thick crowd, almost tripping over someone's shoe in the process. He made it across but what he had been after was no longer there. He almost smacked himself. What was this, a scene in the movie? It was so cliché it wasn't even funny. Why did he have to run after something-_someone_-he didn't even know? Just because he felt something…

He jerked his head to the right and there! Just turning round that corner was a boy. With white hair. And Kanda was running after him. Whoever he was wasn't important because there was a tugging in his heart he hadn't felt since-

_-because I am a small man, my heart is moved by what's in front of my eyes, not by what the whole world needs. I can't just abandon what's there in front of me-_

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Someone bumped into him around the corner, upsetting his balance and making him fall on his ass. He gave the man the finger, ignoring the "tch, kids these days" and looking left and right to see if he was there. Who he was, Kanda didn't know, nor if it was really important to meet him. There was just something about him.

Kanda sighed, more irate now, scratching his head self deprecatingly. There was really no point to this, he decided. He never even got a good look at that person. All he saw was his hair. He turned around, intending to go back to the shop when a sound caught his attention. More specifically, it was the foreign lullaby coming from inside the shop he was standing in front of.

_-I want to be a destroyer that can save-_

The doll, which until that point was just a doll to him, was being cradled by a child.

"Mom! I want this one! Please, I want Lala!"

Kanda ran.

**(1)**

"Whoa, what was that about?" Lavi scratched his temple, clearly puzzled out of his mind. There were few things that could do that to him since has a genius but this; well this needed some Einstein level of reasoning to figure out.

"You're the genius here and you're asking me?" Lenalee asked. She picked up Kanda's bag and handed it to him; for safe keeping as well as keeping it as far away from her as possible, Lavi was sure. He loved Kanda, he really did, but some things really were not meant to be shared with best buds. He would never forget that incident with the tong and the squirrel and Kanda's bag, and apparently so did Lenalee. It was too traumatic to be forgotten. Seriously.

"He's never acted like this before. It's like his here but his not at the same time." Lavi contemplated this for a few minutes before deeming it long enough to make him look like a genius which he was but most people tended to question its validity. "At the rate he's going I'll be doing this project on my own which is unfair. I was relying on him to do the finishing touches of our mini nuclear explosion. He's good at that, you know. Explosions, I mean."

"Lavi." The redhead blinked when a hand descended on his head and proceeded to pat it. "You're really worried about him. I can see, you know. You were babbling."

"I was? Well damn." Lavi pouted. It was okay to do so because it looked good on him. He already checked. "I just don't get that guy sometimes. I mean it's okay to be cool and all, but sometimes he just forgets that I'm here." He sighed, already feeling the depression sinking in. A cough made him look at his friend.

"Are you sure you're just friends?" Lenalee asked cryptically.

Lavi paused, blinked, blinked again for good measure because, wow, was Lenalee implying what he thought she was implying, because that was just "Not cool, Lenalee! I mean, sure Kanda's hair is girly but I would never, and I mean ever, look at him with anything other than friendship in mind."

She coughed again, and she looked disappointed in Lavi's eye. God, women. "Just checking."

"Well," Lavi huffed, adopting an offended air, "Check all you want. I'm telling you that my conscience is clean and Kanda is asexual so nothing is going on between us, illicit or otherwise."

"Sheesh, I was just kidding," Lenalee held her hands up in defense. "I don't know about you, though, but have you seen his face? Those were killer eye bags he's got there. Maybe you were right about the right hand?"

"Asexual, remember? And now that you mentioned it, he's been pretty distracted during class, too. He's also getting ticked off by the most random things. I wonder why." They shared a moment of silence to contemplate these facts before Lenalee broke it with an exclamation.

"Oh! Oh! I forgot I was going to tell you earlier. Remember the archaeologists my brother's working with? The very famous group with members from all over the world?" Lavi nodded, not even trying to hide his smile at Lenalee's excitement. "Just the other day they discovered something really _mind blowing_! My brother's saying that it's really big in their field and I think it's even going to make the news one of these days. Can you believe it, Lavi?" Lenalee was visibly shaking with glee and Lavi just had to suppress a dreamy sigh. _Man, she is gorgeous. Wonder why she thinks I'm gay._

"I think it's somewhere in Europe. There were lots of very old documents, and I mean _old_, 'cause he said some of it were written in languages that doesn't even exist in our time and then there were lots of…" At that point Lavi had stopped listening and was just shamelessly ogling her. Well if Kanda was going to be a bitchy bitch then the least Lavi could do was enjoy this simple blessing.

At the back of his mind though, he still wondered what the heck was wrong with the Japanese. He hoped that at some point he could get an insight of what Yuu was really feeling. He really wanted to help because, you know, that's what best buds are for.

Maybe he'd just confront him tomorrow.

**(1)**

Alone at his apartment, Kanda was methodically preparing his afternoon tea, keeping his mind away from irrelevant things. _Deep breaths. In, out, in, out._ He was succeeding for the most part and minutes later he was already enjoying his tea, sitting at the balcony and facing the busy street below. There really was no point in dwelling on past events. All he needed to do was to sit here, drink his tea and relax.

_-blood. Blood everywhere and he was sinking getting tangled with all the lotusLOTUSlotus and fuck them all I hate them all I hate it I Hate the INNOCENCE- _

He almost dropped his tea when a shrill sound broke his concentration. He carefully placed it on the table, absently noting his sweaty palms and sweatier forehead. He walked inside and picked his phone on the dining table.

"Hey, Yuu!" It was the stupid rabbit.

Kanda walked to his living room, unconsciously trying to make no sound because what if they were there and he didn't have his mug-

"Hey, you there, Yuu?" The voice held a hint of worry and Kanda wasn't even annoyed to hear it. He was worrying himself, too.

"…don't use my name, stupid rabbit." He said belatedly. The laugh he received in answer was shaky, as if the other man was unsure of what to do.

"Soooo," and wasn't that just obviously awkward, "what happened earlier? You saw your ex or something?" The Japanese gathered his tea and put it in the sink, it was getting cold anyway. He leaned back at the counter. He blinked a few times when he noticed that his heart had been racing a mile a minute all this time. He willed it to calm down.

"Nothing."

"…are you sure?"

And for one crazy second, Kanda almost started telling him about the dreams and the doll and the white haired boy. But the second passed and he shut his mouth. He wouldn't. It was not important and the rabbit would probably just call him crazy. In all honesty, Kanda wasn't even sure if he was still sane at this point.

"I'm sure."

"…"

"Goodbye."

"Hey-."

The rabbit was just overreacting. _He_ was just overreacting. It was just a couple of stupid dreams anyway. He was sure that it would go away at some point.

Hopefully.

**(1)**

**Three days of darkness**

The lamp light flickered ominously, casting the room in semi darkness before lighting up again.

**Earl of the Millennium**

Drops of water continued to fill the place with sound, creating a rather eerie rhythm to the already creepy atmosphere.

**Noah's family**

There was a crack somewhere behind but it was probably just the old brick walls. This place was ancient after all.

**Innocence**

**Akuma**

**Anti-akuma weapon**

This was truly a marvelous discovery. He couldn't wait to share it to the whole world. They were going to be famous. _He _was going to be famous. He wasn't going to let anyone take the credit for this. It was all his.

The creaking sound was getting louder by the second and he spared a glance at the entrance of the laboratory? Library? Maybe a mix of both? There was nothing there, of course, why would there be? He focused his attention back at the ancient files in front of him. He could barely see anything! It was a shame that the lighting here wasn't working anymore. How brilliant was that? Electricity already invented and actually used in various ways during the 19th century. Oh he could already see it. The publicity, the fame, the fortune!

"Good evening."

Suman Dark jumped off his seat to face the owner of the voice. He had a hand pressed against his chest and he could feel that his heart was trying to beat out of it. When had this person entered the room? He didn't even hear a single footstep.

"Who are you?" indeed, this guy was unfamiliar. Maybe he was one of the underlings? He sure looked like it, with his stubbled chin and fat physique. Suman hated underlings.

"You don't know me?" The grunt asked, an eerie smile creeping on his lips. "That's a shame. You're actually quite infamous, Mr. Suman."

Of course he was. He was one of the head of this group. But who was this person to talk to him in that condescending tone? He had no right. "Who are you?" he asked again, this time taking a bold step forward even though the other man was a good head taller than him.

"I'm not really surprised you don't remember. After all," the man paused, tilting his head in a move reminiscent to a child's. "This is the first time we've met."

There was that creeking sound again. It was louder than ever and it was driving him insane. It sounded as if someone was clawing down the walls with thousands of metal claws. He took another step forward, patience already running thin. There was a lot to do and-

"In this lifetime, anyway."

That was the single most puzzling statement he'd ever heard and he was going to tell this man so but he couldn't. The clawing sound had reached a deafening height and then it ended with a wet plop. The taste of copper was suddenly rich in his mouth. He was coughing up blood and when he looked down there was a hand-a giant metal hand-sticking out of his stomach, spilling his intestines and turning his body inside out.

He looked up, the urge to scream very strong but his throat was clogged up with blood. The man was no longer a man.

"This is going to be our first move. It's going to be really fun this time, don't you think so?"

"W-who…ck…ar…you…?"

A booming laugh. "Earl of the Millennium, at your service. It was nice doing business with you."

There was another wet sound and the pain accompanying it was dull. The hand had pulled out, leaving a gaping hole at his middle. Blood splattered every nearby surface and coated the floor as Suman Dark fell. He was dead even before he hit the ground.

**(1)**

"Seriously, guys, I'm not going to accept late submissions. We've already talked about this. The due date is next week and that's final." This declaration was followed by protesting groans and a chorus of 'But Riveeer'. "No buts. And call me Professor Wenham, you bastards. At least let me feel like I'm being respected here."

"Yeah right." The one eyed rabbit said beside him. "River's like my big brother or something. And if I ever had a big brother, I'm positive that I'll never be respectful to 'im."

"Hey, I heard that, Lavi!"

"My bad!"

The last five minutes of class was spent in the same manner and it was all irritating to Kanda. Last night he had another dream again, though more mellow than the others. In fact, it was nothing important, just some kid playing the piano. He wasn't even sure if it was related to all those other dreams.

"Hey, Yuu. Wanna grab lunch with me?" The rabbit asked, bag already slung on his shoulder and waiting for him.

"No thanks. " He answered. The rabbit still walked with him, anyway, all the way to the cafeteria. There they met with Lenalee and Kanda was forced to endure half an hour of inane chatter.

"Hey, have you heard about that new shop down 5th avenue?" Lenalee asked around a mouthful of noodles.

"What, that music store? Totally. I was actually thinking of going there after school. I've been wanting to buy my own drum set, you know."

"Really? I thought you were more a flute person. Or maybe a triangle."

"Har har, Lenababe, you're really funny. But seriously, wanna come down there to look?" For some reason, the one eyed idiot was looking at him. A glance to the side confirmed that so was Lenalee. He had no energy to argue about useless things right now so he really had no choice but to agree.

And that was where he found himself after school, walking behind the two lovebirds-not yet but it was only a matter of time-and glancing impatiently at his watch.

"There it is!" Lenalee's irrationally excited voice exclaimed. There was nothing to be excited about the shop, once Kanda had taken a look at it. It was relatively small, just like the other shops around it and the place looked quite old for a newly opened store. There were a couple of violins displayed, and also a whole lot more other instruments but Kanda couldn't name any of it.

"I suddenly miss playing the violin." Lenalee said mournfully to his right. Lavi who was already opening the door turned back.

"You played the violin? Really? How come I haven't heard of this before?"

"Because," she said, pushing past him, "it's none of your business."

The bell overhead rang, signaling their entry. They were immediately assaulted by the smell of wood and wax and something sweet. There were a couple of costumers milling about and their chatter was drowned out by the sound of music.

Piano

Kanda's head zeroed in on the culprit immediately and his heart almost stopped.

_So the little infant fell into a deep sleep_

_Among the grey ashes in the flames shining_

_First one, then two…_

The player stopped, as if sensing his sharp gaze. Slowly, as if he was purposely teasing him, the white haired boy turned around. It was almost unsurprising when his eyes immediately locked with Kanda's. It was a familiar shade of grey, the one that belonged on a far off dream. And that smile…

"Welcome."

**(1END)**

**This fanfic is written for fun only. I don't own anything except for the plot of this story. There will be grammatical errors and typos and I will deal with it if I can. Questions are welcome, of course. This is very clearly an AU-modern day AU to be exact- well sort of. **


	2. Chapter 2

**2****nd**** Chapter**

It was pretty surprising what simple music could do to you, Lavi thought, briefly closing his eye as he let the melody wash over him. He was a little disappointed when it stopped because in his opinion, that was some pretty awesome piano-ing there. It should be bottled and sold to everyone and there shall be peace on earth. He looked to the side, about to impart this wisdom to his best friend. One look at him though and he changed his mind.

_What the heck, Yuu?_

"Welcome."

"Wow! That was very pretty." Lenalee had already walked forward to greet the kid. Whoever he was, he seemed to have triggered some homicidal landmine in Yuu because from what he could see of his friend's dark face, it looked like he'd just seen a ghost. A ghost that he wanted to kill and kill again until it properly died. He decided against making a comment about it, no matter how much he wanted to, and instead turned his attention to the two conversing people ahead.

He tried to size up the kid. There was nothing significant about him-the kid was a midget, only topping Lenalee by an inch or so!-, he tried to tell himself. Oh fuck it, who was he kidding? There were a lot of things about that kid that was just plain weird. His hair for one, it was friggin white. What kind of retard dyes his hair white anyway? And with skin like that Lavi's description of Kanda seeing a ghost wasn't too far off.

"Hey, guys, come over here and meet Allen!"

Lavi blinked, took a step forward and then looked back. Yuu was just standing there like a block of ice. It was starting to worry him.

"Hey, Yuu…"

"Is something the matter with your friend?"

The redhead jumped, and Lenalee giggled on the sideline. When he turned the kid was already standing beside him, an innocent expression-that Lavi was totally not buying-plastered on his face. He felt more than saw Kanda tense before walking out of the shop with as much flair as a drama queen and not one word of goodbye to either him or Lenalee.

The Chinese girl was much faster to react than him and was out the door and after Yuu at his third confused blink. The kid felt like an awkward presence behind him. What was that? What was he going to do now? He wasn't good at dealing with kids.

"Did I do something?" There was a slight accent to his voice. _British_, Lavi noted absently. He turned to face the kid, ready to say some half-formed lie about his friend's mental state when he was assaulted by the grayest eye he'd ever seen on any living thing. He didn't know if it was normal for that color to shine like metal or like…like silver.

Some part of his mind said that _it was, at least on Allen._

"Er…are _you_ alright?"

Lavi blinked and the thought was gone. He scratched the skin below the eye patch, a nervous gesture he'd been trying to get rid of for years. "Yeah. I…I'm sorry 'bout Yuu, though."

"Me?"

"Huh? What about you?"

"You just said your…that's his name, isn't it?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah!" Lavi laughed, some of the nervous energy leaving him, "Totally forgot how confusing it could be to some people. That guy's name is Kanda Yuu. And mine's Lavi. Totally nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine." The kid, Allen if he heard correctly, said politely, and Lavi had the urge to take the kid's hand and kiss it or something, what with his formal way of speaking.

"Sooo," and the awkward was back. "What was that you were playing? It's the first time I've heard it. Not that I listen to classical music often but, you know, it doesn't sound very Mozart or Beethoven to me. But then I wouldn't know anything about those dudes in the first place since I don't listen to classical music shit I already said that didn't…I. Uhmm…sorry."

He just knew that the kid was laughing at him on the inside, but on the outside he had a polite, if not a bit shy, smile on his lips. "It's alright if you want to go after them."

Lavi's shoulder sagged. "Am I that obvious?"

"You were babbling." Shit, another habit he needed to kill.

"Right, see you later, kid." He couldn't resist ruffling the kids white hair, though, just to see if it was as fluffy as cotton. And what do you know, Lavi thought, warmth flooding his heart without logical reason, it was.

"I'm not a kid." Was the kid's grumpy answer, and Lavi couldn't help it. He laughed.

**(2)**

Kanda's hair was swishing side to side as he strutted like the gay man that Lenalee knew he was and Lenalee envied him for its silkiness. She was sure it was silky even though she'd never touched it before. Kanda was a grumpy person when someone messed with his hair.

_He's always a grumpy person._ Lenalee corrected herself. She always forgave him for it 'cause his grumpiness made him look cool but not this time. This time, Kanda's grumpiness was just plain annoying. And what was that just now? Walking out without even a word of explanation? Not to mention after Lenalee had just introduced Allen to him. That was just rude!

"What's your problem now, Kanda?" Lenalee demanded, breath coming out in short gasps as she tried to match the Japanese's stride. Her question was ignored.

She scowled. Quickening her steps, she stepped in front of Kanda, the man almost colliding with her before stopping. She placed her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath before asking again, "What the heck is your problem, Kanda?"

When she righted herself, the look she saw on Kanda's face surprised her. "Kanda?" she didn't get a response, which was not really surprising because right now, Kanda looked very lost. It shook something inside of her to see him like this. Strong, dependable, grumpy Kanda wasn't supposed to look like this. It was below him. Right?

"Kanda." She called again, touching his arm and shaking it a bit. She was aware of the stares they were attracting but she didn't care. This was some serious problem here because,_ shit_, she actually didn't know what to do right now.

She and Kanda were friends but they were not that close. The only common thing between them was Lavi and that stupid incident with the squirrel, so shouldn't it be the redhead who was doing this right now? _Why_ did she even run after him like that?

But then, Lavi had been too surprised to do anything other than stand _there_ like an idiot and she was Kanda's friend too.

Lenalee furrowed her brow in determination. "Kanda. What's wrong?"

Kanda's breath shook when he let it out, and that, to Lenalee, was a sure sign that something was troubling the man big time. The arm she wasn't holding lifted and Kanda grabbed a fistful of his hair, messing his perfect ponytail. "I think I'm going crazy."

_What?_ "Kanda, _what?_"

"You heard me."

"Yeah, but…" this was really serious. What was she going to do? She wasn't really an expert when it came to this kind of things. She wasn't a guy.

"Just…leave me alone." He shook her hand off him and walked ahead, now in a more sedate pace. She wanted to follow him but _this was Kanda_. She didn't know anything about him. How can she say anything to him that would make him okay if she only knew the Kanda everyone knew and not Yuu, Lavi's best friend?

When Lavi saw her, she was still standing there looking at where she last saw Kanda. And she felt very useless.

**(2)**

One day after the Kanda debacle, Lavi had been fixing his coffee table when a weird thought occurred to him.

_Big hammer, small hammer. I'm gonna fry some shit with my seal._

It didn't make any sense to him and was so very random that he just let his train of thought go there.

_It'd be pretty cool if I can go places with just this, _he thought, twirling the hammer he'd been fixing the table with. _Of course, it'd be pretty damn hard to brake but it'll still be pretty cool._

There was a crash somewhere in his living room and for one second, he'd been about to shout something-_big hammer small hammer_- before he thought _shit! That stupid dog better not be destroying anything more or I'll __**fry it with my seal.**_

Lavi put the hammer down; mind already focused on the hunt- the land lady would kill him if she found out! Stupid dog, why did he even keep it?-, and the table, as well as his thoughts, were discarded and forgotten.

**(2)**

Lavi and Yuu's apartments were just a block apart, located right in the middle of the city. It was a pretty convenient spot especially for high school students like them. It was close to important places like the market and the public library. It was also just one bus ride to school, All Hallows High School, and would only take twenty minutes by foot. He would have chosen to room with Yuu but the Japanese was a very private person-or so Lavi thought-so for propriety's sake, he stopped buggering Yuu about it. It might also have taken one death threat from the Japanese to get his point across but no one was being technical about this anyway.

At the very least, they both get to walk together, either to the bus stop or to school, and Lavi can make do with that.

Today, a Monday, he was going to be late. He'd been waiting for Yuu for the last twenty minutes, and if Yuu was one thing, it was early. He was never late to anything and if he was it meant that he was not going to show up. Going by that logic, Lavi thought scratching his chin absently; does that mean he's not going to school?

He really had nothing to lose, except his perfect attendance, so he decided to check if his best bud was still alive. On the way he thought if this has something to do with the walkout last Friday. And if it does, then what does it mean? He never really got to talking about it with Yuu since the Japanese had locked himself in his apartment and wouldn't answer his phone. What was happening to him? And why wouldn't he tell Lavi? Yuu never acted like it but he really thought of Lavi as his best friend, even though he can't ever get Lavi's name right. They shared everything, even under wears. What was different this time?

He entered the apartment complex and greeted the receptionist on the desk. He went ahead to the elevator because everyone knew him here anyway. Kanda's apartment was so much better that his. When he stopped at the third floor, an old lady was waiting there; Kanda's neighbor.

"Goo'morning," he greeted politely.

"Good morning, young man. What brings you here?"

"Just going to fetch Yuu." He answered holding the elevator door open for her.

"Oh? But he already left. Just a while ago, in fact. Did you not see him on the way here?"

_What?_ "Really?" Where the hell could he be? "Thank you so much, ma'am."

"You're welcome. Have a nice day."

Lavi waved a hand goodbye to her absently, already thinking of all the possible places Yuu could go to. School was number one on the list but for some reason Lavi was doubtful that he'd find Yuu there. Other than that he was totally clueless. He tried to call Yuu's phone but just like the other times, it went straight to voicemail. Frustration started to well inside him. This was the first time this had happened and it left him floundering on what to do.

He took the stairs going down, taking his time to think things through. Looking back, this peculiar behavior had started last…hm…

He would say Saturday before last, back at the coffee shop, but even before that Yuu had already been acting strange. Lavi would always catch him staring at nothing for _hours_, no shitting. And then the infamous drama queen act at the music store.

He barely noticed the receptionist waving at him, so deep was he in his thoughts. If this situation wasn't worrying him he would have just dismissed it. But it did, so he didn't. Looking at his watch, he saw that he really was late for school so what the hell, might as well do something more productive with his time.

Japanese hunting it is.

**(2)**

"Hey, uhm, Li?"

Lenalee paused her absentminded scribbling-the professor had left for an urgent meeting a couple of minutes ago- and looked up. It was one of her guy classmates, the one that Sophie was crushing on. "Yes?"

"Sorry to bother you but," The guy scratched his head, seeming very awkward. "Can I borrow your notes? I know we're not very close and all…" he trailed off, and Lenalee struggled to remember the guy's name.

"Sure, no problem." It wasn't the first time someone borrowed anything from her, though she still wondered why they chose her instead of their class representative. She was nice in Lenalee's opinion, if not a little bossy, and always tried to help everyone. "Here you go."

"Thanks!" the guy exclaimed-still can't remember the name-and grabbed the notes excitedly though Lenalee thought there was really nothing to be excited about. Their hands brushed for maybe a second too long and she frowned. The guy was still smiling so she decided to shrug it off. No need to blow a fuss about a second-too-long touch.

The guy was still lingering at her side and Lenalee had never been more thankful to hear the bell ring, signaling lunch break. She gathered her things, folding the paper she had been doodling a fashionable black boot on, and tried to ignore the guy's presence. She stood up.

"We don't have homework so you can give it to me tomorrow. Just don't, you know," she gestured vaguely, starting to feel uneasy herself with the guy's stare, "do anything weird to it." Having said that, she dashed out of the room, thankful to be out of the guy's sight.

On her way to the cafeteria, someone bumped into her from behind, making her almost fall on her face. A girl with short, layered black hair looked behind her, as if just noticing someone was there. "Oh, gosh, sorry. Are you okay?" Sophie asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Lenalee said, ignoring the throbbing in her right shoulder.

Sophie hesitated, exchanging a look with the girl next to her-another of their classmates, and again, Lenalee couldn't put a name to that face-before eyeing Lenalee again. "Well, if you're sure." She and her friend turned back, continuing their way to the cafeteria, probably. They were still close enough when they said, "Bitch."

"Lenalee!" She startled when another body bumped her, though this time in a more friendly way. "You just hightailed it out of the room and I was still finishing the essay for next class. You just left me."

Lenalee ignored her throbbing heart. "Sorry, Loufa. Just had something on my mind." She held her hand to steady the other girl, helping her carry some of her books. They both made a beeline to the lockers.

"Well, are you going to tell what it is?" Loufa asked, righting her crooked glasses after she'd put away her things. Lenalee smiled at her.

"Nope."

"Whaaat? Is it a guy? Is it that red head senior or, god forbid, that scary Japanese guy you always hang out with?" She visibly shuddered and looked around in alarm, as if just mentioning Kanda would summon him here.

"No. Don't be silly. It's really nothing important." _Really._ _It was just a shove, no harm done._

_**Bitch**_

"Ah," Lenalee groaned, shaking off any unwanted feeling in her. "I don't want to eat at the cafeteria."

"Me, too, not with all those people." Loufa bemoaned beside her, the word _bully_ hanging clear between them. "That's why," her mood did a 180 when she shot Lenalee a winning grin. "I packed lunch. I brought extras, just in case." The twinkle in her eyes told Lenalee everything.

"You're my angel." She declared. She sent a mental apology to Lavi and Kanda. She didn't want to miss having lunch with them, especially after last Friday but she just couldn't think of enduring eating in there with _them._

"And you are mine." Loufa said, and her bright smile was almost enough to make Lenalee's worries go away.

**(2)**

"Did you hear about Mark?" Loufa asked out of the blue as they were making their way to class after lunch. They had made a detour to the cafeteria earlier as per Lenalee's request, to see if she could catch a glimpse of Lavi and Kanda, but those two were nowhere in sight.

"Mark? Isn't he your junior friend?"

"Yeah. He hasn't been attending school since last week. It's because his girlfriend is in a coma." Loufa sniffed, easily affected by the news. Lenalee too felt a little sad. She didn't know Mark personally but from what Loufa had told her, he was a very kind person and a firm believer in God, a trait that was hard to come by these days.

"What happened?" she asked as they rounded a corner. Someone called her name. She glanced to the side and waved absently at the guy. He was from her French class.

"Remember the old orphanage that collapsed last month? She had been doing community service there when it happened." She was wiping tears in her eyes now.

"But I thought no one was badly injured? It said so in the news." Lenalee remembered that accident very clearly. It had made the news for a couple of days.

"True. Diane only got a head injury from it, and they thought it was nothing serious but then last week she just collapsed. I was with Mark when he went to check on her at the hospital. It was really devastating." She sniffed, blowing her nose. "They said something about a damaged vessel and clotting a-and she may never wake uuup." The last word was muffled through her handkerchief. She was visibly shaking and all Lenalee could do was hug her. Loufa was so very small and fragile, if only she can save her from heart ache as much as she could from bullies.

"Get a room." Lenalee stiffened when she heard the snickers that followed. She looked up and glared at them-they were mostly girls-trying to understand how they could be so cruel. So unsympathetic. She knew they looked a sight, with Loufa crying silently on her shoulder, but she wouldn't begrudge her for this. She knew her brother wouldn't.

The bell signaling the start of afternoon classes rang, and the students started to walk away. Loufa lifted her head and gingerly wiped her nose as well as Lenalee's clothes. "Sorry for that."

"Don't be." She was really glad that amidst the suffocating jealousy and unkindness and indifference, there was always Loufa-among a very few others-to balance out the bad in Lenalee's life.

**(2)**

He didn't know what pushed him to do it but three hours into his search for Kanda and Lavi was walking inside a familiar shop. He was just walking past when he saw the OPEN sign on the door and without thinking about it, he just let himself in. The bell chimed overhead, filling the room momentarily with its sound.

The shop was empty; no surprise considering it was almost lunch time, so Lavi roamed around trying not to touch anything that looked too fragile.

The sound of hurried footsteps made him look up and notice the stairs at the far side, hidden behind a shelf of music scores.

"Hello." The voice was familiar, as well as the person who said it. The feeling came with a touch of nostalgia that Lavi couldn't understand. He shook himself, and the white haired shop keeper, Lavi guessed, looked at him with a weird expression.

"I wasn't expecting anyone to come in. Did you need anything?" The tone of voice was very casual but the way the boy carried himself was very formal.

"Uh…we met last Friday." Lavi said, unsure if the boy had forgotten him or something. Though under the circumstances they've met, Lavi was positive it would be damn hard to forget.

"Yes. I remember you. Lavi, correct?" The boy, Allen, that was his name, walked to the counter and started arranging who-knows-what in there. A few awkward seconds later, he eyed Lavi expectantly. Lavi coughed into his fist.

"Aren't you supposed to be at school?" he blurted, and quickly regretted doing so at the look that crossed the boy's face. There was a sudden melancholy that fell on his person and his shoulders sagged just a little bit although the smile he gave Lavi was as bright as the sun.

"I'm home schooled." Allen answered.

Lavi coughed again. He really wasn't good with kids. There was a reason why he refused every babysitting job offered to him, no matter how big the pay was.

"Right."Awkward. "How old are you, anyway?"

"Fifteen." The kid was obviously relieved at the change of topic. Lavi was, too.

"Really? I'm older, eighteen." Lavi smiled, walking closer and leaning on the counter.

"Then aren't _you_ supposed to be at school?" The kid asked back with as much sass as you please.

_Oh shit!_ "Yuu!" he suddenly exclaimed, remembering just why he wasn't at school right now. There was a sound on his side as Allen righted himself, having seemingly been startled out of his seat by his exclamation.

"Am I correct in guessing that you're talking about your friend?" Allen asked, tightening the red ribbon tied around the collar of his white long sleeved shirt. What was up with that outfit?

"Yup. Did you see him walk pass here, by any chance?" he asked, but considering last Friday he was very doubtful.

"No, I haven't. Sorry." Allen answered, looking straight at Lavi's eye and into his soul.

"Hey, kid. No need to be sorry." He tried to resist, he really did, but the urge wouldn't go away.

"Hey, stop it!" Allen batted the hand that was ruining his hair away, but he had a smile on his lips. "If I see him, though, I'll let him know that you're looking for him." He said, trying to make his hair as neat as possible.

"Thanks. You're a really good kid." Lavi said gratefully. Lavi just knew it was true, even though they've only just met. Maybe that was why he found himself acting so familiarly with this kid, hair ruffling and all.

"_I_ am not a kid. And _you_ are a really good friend. Only a really good friend would forgo going to school to look for a missing person."

"Yeah. And maybe a thousand lazy people who don't want to go to school, too." He felt really flattered. Some people considered him an idiot for continuing to hang out with Yuu despite his rude tendencies but this kid understood, even though it was in a shallow sense.

"Of course." There was a smile on Allen's face, a very genuine kind of smile, as if he knew Lavi was trying not to skip about happily from Allen's compliment and he was humoring him. "Where have you looked so far?" Allen asked, folding his arms at the counter top and placing his chin on his left hand. Lavi eyed the hand suspiciously, as if the perfect white skin was deceiving him, before looking up and answering.

"Everywhere I could think of. I'm actually starting to think that Kanda left the country, actually." Lavi heaved a sigh. Maybe it was time to give up. Maybe the Japanese would turn up tomorrow and everything would be back to normal.

"Did you have a fight?" Allen asked curiously.

"No." At least Lavi thought they didn't. It was hard to know if the Japanese had something against him since they hadn't been talking the whole weekend. "He's just been a little preoccupied, I think. Has a lot on his mind,"_ that for some reason he didn't think of sharing with his BFF_.

"You know, I find that playing music can help in clearing the mind once in a while," Allen said philosophically and they both eyed the piano at the center of the room, welcome to anyone who wanted to try it.

Lavi snorted. "You wouldn't find a single musical bone in him, I'm telling you." It was funny actually, imagining Kanda trying to butcher Moonlight Sonata with his non-existent piano skills.

"Then how about a book. Everyone loves to read."

"Right." The library. He doubted he would find Kanda there, which was why he'd forgone searching for Yuu there. He just couldn't think of a reason why the Japanese would need a book if he could just google it, or maybe ask Lavi. _Right, not talking to each other right now._ "I think I'll go look for him again. Wish me luck, buddy." He stretched out the kinks that had formed on his back, sighing as he heard a few bones crack onto place. He snorted at the look of slight disgust on the kids face.

"Good luck." Allen said.

Lavi hesitated. "Uh, would you be okay by yourself?" he asked.

Allen blinked before flashing him another smile. "It's okay. My guardian just left to get food. He'll be back in a while."

_Guardian._ Lavi bit his tongue to stop the question from coming it out. It would probably offend Allen and really, it was none of his business. "Okay, kid. See you later." He gave Allen a salute, and walked to the door. The sound of the bell didn't drown out the indignant "I'm not a kid" Lavi got in reply.

Now back in the crowd, Lavi started to feel anxiety creep into him. He couldn't help feeling as if something was about to happen and this weird behavior of Yuu's was just a premonition of things to come. He started making his way to the public library. It was easier if he took the bus but he didn't want to make it there faster and face the fact that Yuu wasn't there.

He checked his watch. Fifteen past twelve. Right on time, his stomach started growling. Maybe he'll just stop by for a quick snack. He looked up at the sky, feeling cheated when he saw how bright it was. Shouldn't there be dark clouds up there, just to mirror his feelings?

He looked back down just in time to avoid colliding with a walking mountain of Chinese take away. "Woah! Hey!" Lavi almost had a mini heart attack as the tower wobbled dangerously when the person carrying it tried to avoid him.

Lavi held a few boxes in place, not missing how comical the both of them might look. He tried to look beyond the food cartons and bags to see the man-definitely a man, the tanned hand he could see supporting the take aways were huge.

"Thanks a lot, man." The voice was slightly muffled and Lavi couldn't make out the owner of the gruff voice.

"No prob. You gonna be okay?" Lavi asked politely. The tower was a little stable now but he could see that the man's knees were shaking from the load.

"Yeah." The man grunted, continuing on his way with slow, careful steps. Lavi eyed the curly haired top until it turned a corner and disappeared. He clenched his fist, a whisper of something trying to make itself heard in his head, before he willed it away.

He needed to find Yuu.

**(2)**

The research had gone from groundbreaking to hell.

It had been three days since they found the body of Suman Dark, mangled beyond recognition and the group had halted their work indefinitely to arrange for the funeral. The murderer was still at large.

The crime scene was really gruesome. Komui wasn't ashamed to admit that he vomited all the food he'd eaten that day when he took a look at the sight. Whoever did it to his co-head had no mercy. He just wished that it had been a quick death.

The library/laboratory where the crime occurred was still close to the public. A thorough investigation was being made and the best group was assigned for it. Sometimes, having the government on your back was a blessing.

He really hoped that the culprit would be caught sooner rather than later. He really didn't fancy walking around the large ancient structure jumping at the very little sound. There was still a lot to discover and-this, Komui was a little ashamed to admit-the recent death of Suman was hindering their progress.

There was something morbid about the large structure. It's presence atop a very high plateau in the middle of nowhere had been a source of thousands of speculations. Who could have built a structure as modern as this in the 19th century? Who would even want to? And why?

The ancient papers they'd found so far just lead to more questions. The team had been very careful to extract these evidences because all of it were a hundred years old, maybe even older.

Fascinating.

They still couldn't make the discovery public since the government wanted to know the facts first. If it somehow ended up being, say, a conspiracy hidden well in history, then of course they would want to take action. Buildings like this weren't just made without reason. The location was untraceable, and the only possible entrance was hidden so well it took them years to locate it. Who would have thought that a river cave miles below would lead to this wonder?

So many questions and still no answers in sight.

He was currently alone in his office. He chose a room a floor away from the rest for privacy. He really felt at home in here, with all the large drills and other pointy objects hanging on the wall. He didn't dare touch any of it in fear of ruining anything. Not yet, anyway.

A knock at his door stopped his musing.

"Supervisor. These are the paper you asked for. I've included the latest translations at the end, too."

"Thank you. You may go." He said shortly. The man retreated without a word and Komui didn't miss him eyeing the trinkets on the walls suspiciously.

Originally, the papers were first given to Suman for further analysis before going to him but since the other man was, well, dead, it went straight to Komui now.

He scanned the papers. He'd actually already read a few of them but he just really wanted to check. So far there had been about a thousand pages of translated scriptures and a million more to go. Everything he'd read were all supposed to be informative, but for the life of him, he still couldn't understand what it was all about. In back of his mind, he wondered if ever he did understand if he would not regret it.

The documents talked about a war. And casualties, a thousand of them apparently. There was also a lot mentioned about a weapon-akuma-and all its varying levels. The church of their time was somehow involved but in what way was still unknown.

He double checked everything before proceeding to read the latest files.

Thirty minutes later, he finished everything and filed it with all the other documents, to be submitted to the higher ups tomorrow. He paced the room, mind trying to put together everything he'd read.

There had been an undocumented war sometime during the end of the 19th century, a war with priests as soldiers and an unknown enemy using unknown weapons.

But how can that be? A war with thousands of casualties couldn't be really kept a secret, could it?

And there was still one thing that troubled the mind of every one of them.

Out of all the thousands of translated documents they've found and read…

Not one name was ever mentioned.

**(2END)**

**And on that note, we end chapter 2. I really didn't want to stop there but this chapter had to end at some point. I'll just add the bit where Kanda meets *beepbeepsuspensesuspense* next chapter.**

**ABOUT LENALEE**

**It's really hard to decide how I'll show Lenalee's character. I didn't want her to be the perfect cute girl that everyone likes so i thought long and hard. In my opinion, Lenalee would still be nice but her relationship with other people will not be as deep as her friendship with others as an exorcist since they don't share anything. In this fic's 'past', the war brought everyone closer together, and in the exorcists' case the innocence also did. So without those factors I think it will take a while to be real friends. In Lenalee's case, she's still an orphan and Komui and her relationship is still the same but with Komui gone a lot of times she had to be on her own a lot, too. It's hard to develop social skills if you live by yourself, I think. She's nice to everyone because deep down she wants them to like her. Because of that plus the fact that she's pretty, boys like her. A lot. Which makes her number one enemy for quite a few girls, hence the bad attitude towards her. **

**I really didn't like Lenalee at first. I only started liking her when some akuma burned her hair. She was really cool that time. So I guess I'm just channeling my previous feelings for her here. I don't like perfect girl characters that's nice to everyone and is a boy magnet without really meaning to. That's how the other girl extras here feel about her.**

**Am I even making any sense?**

**I'll explain about the other characters next time. Hopefully.**

**AND as a final note, thank you for all the people who added this story to their favorite and/or alert. Thanks a bunch.**

**And to these people:**

NoName-chan

karina001

Hanashi o suru

Kinkylittlewolf

**You guys reminded me how nice it is to receive a review for my story-even if it's just a one word exclamation *coughHanashicough*. So no matter how far I go with this story, it's because of you people.**

**THANK YOU!**


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